Following on from my last post on Larry Chase's predictions for how online marketing in 2006 will evolve...

I can't stress enough how important it is to experiment with the new technologies that Larry discussed (RSS, podcasting, video downloads, mapping applications, etc.) so you're not left in the dust. Sure, RSS or podcasts or video downloads won't take over the world in 2006, but you can be sure you'll be on the back foot if you do nothing and let your competitors establish a foothold with a popular podcast show or video blog.

What I'm talking about here is first mover advantage. Once your competitor becomes the next RocketBoom.com (a popular video blog which auctioned off their first video ad on eBay for $40,000!) or the next FrenchPodclass (a podcast of French language lessons offered by 26-year-old Sebastian Babolat, who recorded them in his living room and within several months had 10,000+ subscribers), it'll be hard to catch up and overtake them.

Our client Steve Spangler is podcasting audio commentary, audio interviews, and video clips demonstrating some very cool science experiments to teachers and parents (his target audience). I reckon that his competitors won't be upstaging him anytime soon, given the loyal following and buzz he's already built up. And most importantly, now he's got the momentum to keep evolving his podcasting/vodcasting at a faster and faster clip.

What are you doing to differentiate your brand and position yourself to capitalize on the whole "Web 2.0" thing going forward?

Larry Chase of WDFM pontificates about key trends for Internet marketing in 2006. These include, in summary:

1. RSS? Yes, but...
   
   Real Simple Syndication (RSS) finally takes off, and while great for stuff like sampling content, subscriber acquisition, product updates, and grabbing the attention of search engines, he contends that neither is it the second coming for advertising nor is it the replacement for email.
2. Podcast Means "Narrowcast"
   
   It may have been the 2005 Word of the Year, but to employ "podcast" technology for marketing purposes? The ability to "timeshift" and consume content on-the-go on your schedule is innovative, but isn't it possible most of these sound files are being listened to on desktop or laptop computers? And when considering podcasts as part of your marketing plan, think about the payback. A simple press release may be better.
3. Email Marketing - The Tower of Babble
   
   Improve email campaign deliverability by adding your SPF text record to your domain's DNS record. Mail servers look for the sending server's IP address before passing the email through to the recipient. Also look into adopting SenderID and the other competing protocols put forward by inbox providers and ISPs, to further ensure your emails get delivered. And remember, the cleaner your list, the more emails will be delivered.
4. Video Downloads Will Be Huge
   
   With millions of videos already being downloaded from iTunes, it's a growing market. While folks are tapping into a missed episode of their favorite TV program sans commercials or downloading entire movies, what is the application for marketers? Video on the Internet featuring product demos, or how-to videos to help buyers with their purchase decision, perhaps?
5. Newspapers Get Bold
   
   Print media has had to rev up its act to tap into the new generations. The world's #1 most downloaded podcast The Ricky Gervais Show at Guardian Unlimited is a glimpse of great things to come from the newspaper industry. But where is the money? It's got to be about more than traffic.
6. Multidimensional Marketing
   
   Sure, mashing online maps with overlays of data have far-reaching implications for Internet Marketing. Mapping properties for sale or rent, visualizing where visitors to your website come from, or finding WiFi hotspots or dead zones for cellular networks, are all great applications. And there will be more exciting innovations to come. The rapid advances in Internet technology will be a boon to marketers and researchers alike. But in the urge to innovate or die, don't make the classic mistake of assuming your audiences are adopting new technologies at the same rate you are. There's still a place for the traditional.

What do I think about Larry's predictions? I say he's pretty much spot on. Of course we won't know for sure until the end of the year. ;-)

Well, it’s been six months since his last State of the Blogosphere address, but Technorati’s Dave Sifry has been busy tracking and mapping the latest trends, comprehensive results for which are to be found in his latest five-part blog post series.

Part 1 on Blog Growth reveals the number of weblogs out there has been doubling in size every five months. The folks at Technorati have found a burgeoning 14.2 million weblogs and over 1.3 billion links. 80,000 blogs are created daily and a new weblog created every second, and 55% of new bloggers are still posting three months later. Those receiving top marks for attendance are the 13% of blogs that are updated daily (yes, I am aiming to be one of them, but haven't gotten there yet... sigh!). Dave’s report on Blog Growth here.

Whether a single post is a long essay or a short entry, each qualifies as a post. The State of the Blogosphere Part 2 reports on Posting Volumes, the aggregate number of posts per day. As at July 2005, 900,000 posts were being created daily - that’s 37,500 per hour or 10.4 per second, with obvious spikes during world events such as Live 8 or the London Bombings. The full research findings on Posting Volume here.

Over 25 million blog posts now use tags for categories or topics. 12,000 are being discovered each day, and photos and links are now being tagged too. The State of the Blogosphere Part 3 Report on Tags here.

Part 4 Spam and Fake Blogs dwells on the darker side of the blogosphere – created to influence results on a search engine by filling the results with spam or fake postings, usually to some advantage. here

In Part 5, Dave Sifry reports on the The List and the Long Tail - the impact of weblogs on mainstream media, the A-list, and the measure of influence or authority of a site or blog by the number of people linking to it. here

All interesting stuff and a great place to check out if you love statistics, graphs, and a one-stop update on The State of the Blogosphere.